USG and student groups partner to promote flu vaccination

With the onset of the flu season, the university is strongly encouraging every member of the UIC community — whether on campus or off — to be vaccinated for the flu. Because getting the flu vaccine is especially important this year because of COVID-19, UIC’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) has created an outreach campaign to students about why they should get the vaccine.

USG has partnered with several pre-health student organizations, including the Women’s Health Initiative, Society for Future Physicians, GlobeMed UIC, Peer Health Exchange, Minority Association for Pre-Medical Students, Women in Science and Engineering – Medicine, Delta Epsilon Mu, and the Pre-Health Society of Chicago to spread the word and connect their student membership with the UIC Flu Vaccine Program.

From Oct. 19–22, USG has planned a Green Ribbon Week with events each day by its partner organizations that will highlight their respective missions and emphasize the importance of getting a flu shot. Information will be posted on the USG website and on social media.

“I wasn’t sure if I would get a flu shot this year, but I thought it was really important because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said David Wu, a sophomore pre-med student. “UIC deserves a huge shoutout for making it really accessible to get one on campus.”

The month of October is very important to UIC’s student government because it will also be focusing on a last push to register voters. Volunteers who promote voter registration through phone banking and text banking have also agreed to support the flu vaccine campaign by sending reminder messages about getting vaccinated to campus community members. Additional on-campus volunteers will distribute flyers in campus housing and encourage resident assistants to help their residents understand why they should get vaccinated this fall.

“Getting a flu shot this year is extremely important for all students, and we hope that those on campus this semester will make an appointment to get vaccinated now even though they might not be getting their flu shot till later this month,” USG President Wasan Kumar said.  “We will continue our outreach to students through social media and use the #NoFluForYou and #FlamesFluShot hashtags to promote the flu vaccine program throughout October.”

For more information about USG’s flu vaccine campaign and related events, visit its social media pages (@uicusg on Facebook and Instagram) and the USG newsletter.

Students should visit Flu Vaccine: Student Instructions to learn more about the UIC Flu Vaccine Program and schedule vaccination appointments, which are required this year to comply with the university’s COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.